


Little Red Riding Lance

by CircusTalia



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Gift Exchange, Little Red Riding Hood AU, M/M, Voltron Fabled, furthermore this is meant as a one shot so I have to go by fairy tale logic and speed, in my defense this is a fairy tale AU, things probably seem to go by fast, which is like less than a day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-14 20:03:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21021473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CircusTalia/pseuds/CircusTalia
Summary: Lance has worked with the Blue Lion Delivery Service so that he could have the chance to see more of the world. He's sent on a special delivery into the woods and comes across a werewolf and a woodswoman. Can he make it out of the woods alive?





	Little Red Riding Lance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BlueLionWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueLionWrites/gifts).

> This is a gift for Blue as part of the Voltron Fabled Exchange. I hope you like it, Blue!
> 
> And for anyone interested in what else the event has, please check out their Twitter: https://twitter.com/FabledV

There once was an aspiring delivery boy named Lance, who longed to see the world outside of his town. He took on an apprenticeship with the local delivery service known as the Blue Lion Express. He admired the sleek, blue colored hoods they wore as a part of their uniform and tried to emulate their colors by donning blue attire, from his shirt to his pants. He would greet the people he would make deliveries to and garnered new clients to use the service. The other delivery folk were impressed by his charismatic charm and ability to speak to others easily.

There was one person in the delivery company that didn’t care for Lance’s popularity. Luxia was a woman that took great pride in the work she performed and was considered one of the elite delivery people in the company. However, Lance caught up to her performance level and it was clear that the people running the service wanted to promote him as one of their own and join their ranks. Luxia, fearful that she would lose her position came up with a scheme that she was certain would get rid of Lance. 

Her methods were a bit extreme, but she figured there would be one of two results: her plan would either kill Lance or make him so scared that he’d have to quit working for them. It was a win either way and that’s what Luxia was after.

Luxia approached Lance when he was alone, with an offer that he couldn’t refuse. If Lance could deliver a basket of treats to a house that resided in the woods outside of town, he would be one of them. If not, he’d have to find employment elsewhere. She even permitted Lance to wear one of the hoods the company owned so that he would feel like an official part of the family.

Lance readily accepted the offer, unaware that the forest Luxia instructed him to venture into was known to house werewolves that preyed on passerbys. 

The cloak Lance was given disappointed him for rather than the brilliant blue he had come to love, it was a dull red that had been tattered. Luxia assured him that he would get a much finer cloak if he completed this task. The basket of treats was given to him, as was directions to the house. In an attempt to appear sincere, Luxia instructed Lance to stay on the path and not stray from it or goof off. 

Lance took the basket of treats and headed off to make his first delivery on his own.

The woods didn’t appear all that bad, with luscious green grass and leaves and plenty of shade for pedestrians that entered. Golden flowers littered the path and Lance couldn’t resist picking one up and sniffing its aroma. However, he suddenly heard rustling come from a nearby bush. He dropped the flower and held the basket close to himself.

He was tempted to inspect the bush, but shook his head and closed his eyes. Surely, it was only a squirrel that was storing its nuts. Yes, that had to be it. Lance turned around and opened his eyes, only to see a large, hulking (and handsome) wolfman with dominant black fur minus a patch of white hair in his forelock and a scar across the bridge of his nose.

“Hello,” he said with a smirk that revealed his fangs.

Lance gasped and nearly dropped the basket. 

“Who are you?!” He asked with a terrified tone.

The wolfman wagged his tail. “I am Shiro and you, little one, have entered my forest without permission.”

“The names’ Lance and I’m not little!” Lance pouted. “I am a man and taller than most guys!” He puffed his chest out. 

Shiro put a paw over Lance’s head to show the difference in their sizes. Lance shook his head to remove the paw over him when he saw that there was a splinter inside his pawed hand.

"Oh wow, how are you able to stay so calm with your hand hurt?" He grabbed the pawed hand to get a closer look at it.

"Oh that? It's not really serious."

"Seriously?" Lance set the basket down and searched into his pockets, pulling out a pair of tweezers. "I've had splinters before and they are awful to deal with. Hold still." He plucked the splinter out, causing Shiro to let out a howl. "Sorry," Lance winced and then took out a bandage and applied it over where the splinter once was. "Better? I realize I probably should have put some kind of ointment on it or rubbing alcohol, but I guess I wasn't bright enough to bring that stuff with me and I don't really know much about the plants around here." He gave Shiro a guilty look.

Shiro looked at his pawed hand and back at Lance, smiling at him, giving him another ruffle.

"Thank you." 

Lance blushed and pouted, denying himself that it actually felt good to be patted by Shiro said, "Anyway, I’m on a very important task to deliver these goodies to the house inside these woods.”

Shiro removed his hand from Lance's head. “And which house would that be?” 

“Uh…,” Lance took his note out. “The one with a violet roo-Hey, wait a minute! How many houses could there be in this forest?”

“What? You think werewolves don’t have homes?”

Lance made a harumph sound and walked past Shiro. 

“Well, I’m going to finish my task. I have no time to waste and no time to argue on whether this is your forest or not.”

As Lance was walking away, Shiro called out to him again.

“You know,” he said. “If you want to make the delivery extra special, you should pick out some flowers across the meadow to your right.”

Lance stopped in his tracks, looking over his shoulder.

“And why would I do that?”

Shiro shrugged, his tail sweeping the dust off the ground.

“I just thought you’d make a really good impression on your client if you included a bouquet with the treats. Especially a bouquet as colorful as a rainbow. And no, they aren't dangerous in any way.” Shiro picked up a black flower by a tree, giving it a twirl. 

Lance pondered in thought, hand over his chin. Luxia instructed him to remain on the path. But she didn’t say how long this delivery would take, so he didn’t know how much time he was really wasting if he picked up some flowers. Plus, that might give him a better review and she’d have to hire him on the spot. 

"Hey, thanks for the suggestion, Shiro," he turned with a smile only to find that the wolfman was nowhere to be seen. How odd, he thought. 

Lance shrugged and walked away from the path and in the direction of the meadow where there was a flower of every color to pick from. 

As he got on his knees, the aroma filled his nostrils. They smelled so sweet and so much better than the perfumes he would take a whiff of each time he passed the more expensive and high end shops of his town. He picked a purple flower among the bunch, whose petals were perfectly spaced and tipped, and admired its beauty. Suddenly, he heard footsteps approach. He was worried he’d come across another werewolf, but as he looked up, he instead saw a beautiful woman with white colored hair tied in a ponytail.

While one would think someone who has white hair was of old age, the woman appeared quite young, around Lance’s age in fact. She wore a buttoned up shirt and overalls and had an axe in her hand that she carefully held. 

“What brings you to this forest, good sir?” she asked.

“Oh, I’m out on a delivery,” Lance replied with a smile. “I was given the idea to pick some flowers to impress my customer.”

“Is that so?” she knelt beside him. “These woods can be dangerous. Why don’t I keep you company until your delivery is complete?”

Lance nodded. “Sure, I’d like that.” As he picked another flower, this one being a primary white with curved petals and sprinkles of violet on them, he spoke to her again. “I don’t recall seeing you in town. And trust me, I know everyone in my town.”

The woodswoman chuckled. “I believe that’s because I’m from another border of the woods. I’m Allura by the way.”

“Lance,” he picked another flower, this one pink and more closed in. 

The two continued to talk and Lance couldn’t help but be entranced by the woodswoman beauty. In fact, these woods seemed to be filled with beautiful life. Even Shiro had a beauty to him, even if he had been a bit of a jerk. Although there was a bit of a mystery to Allura that Lance couldn’t put his finger on. 

Once he had a bouquet he was satisfied with, the two went back on the path and Lance followed the directions to the house in the woods. Lance offered to help Allura carry whatever wood she had when he was done with his delivery as a way to pay back for her protection. Allura found him to be considerate, but wanted to focus on getting Lance's task done first. They found out a little more about one another, Lance learning that many people in Allura’s village relied on her to deliver them wood and herbs. 

They reached the house that Lance was to deliver the treats and he thanked Allura for accompanying him. Allura looked at the house sadly, but did not say anything. Before knocking on the door, Lance asked her one more question.

“Do you know of any werewolves in these woods?”

Allura’s face seemed to turn red.

“Ah, well,” she scratched her cheek. “In a way…” She feigned a cough. “Any reason you’d like to know?”

“Not really. Just that I came across a werewolf earlier and he was good loo-, I mean, he wasn’t very pleasant. He said these were his woods, but I don’t see his name anywhere.”

Allura chuckled. 

“I’m sure he’s just teasing. Why don’t I stand by until you’re done.”

Lance nodded. He gave a knock on the door, only to find that the door opened slightly.

Curious, Lance put one foot over the threshold.

“Hello?”

He peeked inside and saw a bed in the middle of the living room. The house wasn’t completely dark, but it was still dim that Lance could only see the basic shapes of things. There was heavy breathing from underneath the covers. 

“Uh....I’m part of the Blue Lion.” He held the basket out with the bouquet on top. “I have your delivery...and a little something special.”

“Come place it next to me, dearie,” a voice Lance swore sounded familiar, but dismissed as it obviously sounded croaky which clearly meant this was the house of an older person said.

Lance entered the home, trying to find a switch to no avail. He took easy steps to the bed. 

“Um..here you are-Oh.”

“Is something wrong?” the person asked, their head not completely out, though Lance couldn’t see what they looked like.

“Nothing,” Lance shook his head as he placed the basket and bouquet down. “Nothing at all.”

“No. Tell me. I want to hear what you have to say.”

“Uh...I was just going to say how lovely this place is.”

“Try again, little one.”

Little one? If this was an old person, surely Lance would be taller than them. Maybe they just happened to be a giant or something. They did take up quite a bit of room on the bed. Although that wasn’t the only feature Lance could make out about this person.

“Um...sorry if I’m being rude, but your ears...they’re rather...large?”

There was a chuckle from the one underneath the blankets. 

“The better to hear you with, dearie. And I can sense you have more to say.”

Lance gulped. He wanted to lie, but whoever this client was possessed the power to sense lies. He might as well be fired from the Blue Lion over what the client wanted, not for refusing to provide them just that.

“Your hands...are they swollen? They look big.”

“No. They’re just the right size to hold a lover.”

Lance couldn’t hold back an awe. That was a rather sweet line. 

“And I guess your eyes are just the right size to see your beloved?”

“Exactly,” the voice responded, their head popping out more and Lance noticing their teeth.

“Oh. Wow. Your teeth are really big…”

“The better to scare you with.” The person in the bed moved their hand over a lamp on the bedside and turned it on, revealing Shiro to be the one under the covers and Lance let out a scream.

Allura bolted in as soon as she heard Lance cry out in terror. She held her axe up, ready for a fight until her eyes were set on the wolfman.

“Shiro! Did something happen?”

Lance looked to her and pointed to Shiro.

“You know him?!”

“Nothing happened, Allura. I thought you would have taken him away from here,” Shiro said to her. 

“Hold up,” Lance put his hands up. “Is someone going to explain to me what’s going on?” He pointed to Shiro. “Why are you here?” He pointed another finger in Allura’s direction. “And how do you know him?”

“This is my house,” Shiro said with a bemused look.

“And Shiro’s the werewolf that I know in this forest,” Allura walked over to stand next to Shiro.

Lance was flabbergasted. 

“So then...you’re the one these treats are for?”

Shiro picked up the basket, setting it aside and sniffing the bouquet.  
  
“And you made it extra special just for me,” he grinned.

“I didn’t know they were for you!” Lance took a deep breath. “Okay, so, you two know each other and this is your house. How exactly do you know Luxia then?”

Allura and Shiro shared a concerned look.

“You...don’t know why you were here?” Allura looked at Lance sadly.

Lance shook his head.

“Lance...we-” Allura stopped herself, unable to finish her sentence.

Shiro finished it for her.

“We were hoping you would have gone home before you even came here.”

“Why is that?” Lance was confused. They were starting to scare him, his legs shaking.

“She sent you here to die, Lance,” Shiro revealed.

Lance’s heart sank. 

“No...she wouldn’t….why?”

Shiro and Allura stepped closer to Lance, Shiro tossing the bouquet on the bed. 

“From what Luxia told us-me, specifically,” Shiro explained, “was that you were an untrustworthy man that caused trouble in your village.”

“Shiro then told me and we were determined to see for ourselves how we would go about punishing you based on our interactions with you,” Allura added.

“That’s not a very good way of judging whether someone should die or not,” Lance said, stepping away from them.

Shiro and Allura winced guiltily.

“We weren’t going to kill you,” Allura said. “But we would have tried to frighten you a little. Enough for you to give up your quest.”

“Well, you scared me that’s for sure,” Lance grabbed the end of his cape. “And you’re still scaring me. But I don’t understand. I haven’t done anything, why would she say I’m this awful person? And if you already knew I wasn't a bad person, why didn't you stop me from going in? Why did you rush in as if you didn't know I was going to be scared off?”

"Well, Shiro normally growls or howls when he's trying to intimidate someone, so I thought something serious happened," Allura answered as Shiro blushed.

Shiro hummed to himself in thought.

“I don’t know why Luxia would want you to fail. But I definitely know you're far from a bad person.” He gave a smile to Lance. "You're a good person, Lance."

“You think so?” Lance gave a small smile.

“We know so,” Allura said. “But now we know Luxia is the one we should be distrustful of.”

“What’ll happen if I go back?” Lance looked down at the floor. “I don’t know if I could face her knowing she set me up for failure.”  
  
“You won’t have to go alone,” Shiro put a reassuring clawed hand on Lance’s shoulder. “We’ll go with you and confront her once and for all.”

“You’d do that?” Lance looked up at him.

“We can do more than that,” Allura gave a mischievous grin. 

It had been more than a day since Lance had ventured out on his “task.” Luxia was inside her office, sitting by her desk and sipping tea as she thought of how lovely the day had been going. She’d receive word soon enough that Lance was either killed or he’d be in tears, sobbing at her feet and apologizing for being a failure of a delivery man. 

She took a look at herself from the reflection of her window, admiring the blue coat over her shoulders that was smooth and fashionable. She rehearsed in her mind the act she would put up about Lance’s failure. Luckily for her, the delivery service was closed that day so she was the only one in the office and therefore it’d be much easier to twist things around for her co-workers to hear Lance leaving their company. She turned away from the window, perusing through her shelf of books to decide what she should read to pass the time when she heard a knock on the door.

“Come in,” she said. 

The door opened to reveal Lance. In one piece. And unscathed.

“Lance?” She hid her disappointment and fury. “You...completed the task?”

He shook his head.

“I couldn’t bring myself to do it.” 

Luxia raised an eyebrow. If he was this undamaged, then that must have meant he was simply too lazy to even go into the forest.

“Ah, so then you’ve decided to resign from the Blue Lion?” She shook her head. “Such a shame. And you had potential, too.”

“Oh, but it’s a good thing I didn’t,” Lance said. “I met a woodswoman and she told me she came across something terrifying.”

“She...what?” Luxia clasped her hands together.

Lance moved to the side and Allura came inside.

“Hello. You must be Luxia,” Allura greeted. “There was an awful beast in the woods that was set on eating everything in sight.”

Luxia’s face contorted.  
  
“Is that so?”

“Yeah. And Allura here slayed the beast!” Lance said enthusiastically.

Luxia would have to deal with the toll later, but it didn’t seem as though Lance was going to ask to return to the Blue Lion.

“Well, we thank you for your bravery, kind woodswoman,” she said. “You have my sincerest of gratitudes.”

Allura chuckled before that chuckle became nervous.

“What’s wrong, Allura?” Lance asked.

“I’m afraid I must confess something,” Allura tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“Confess what?” Luxia raised an eyebrow.

Allura grabbed the hem of her axe that was tied around her waist. 

“The beast...he may still be alive....”

Lance took a step back.

“But, you said you slayed him!”

Luxia put a hand on Lance’s shoulder.

“Now, Lance, let us not judge so hastily. Even if that beast is alive, surely he must be injured in those woods. He’s not going to get us so long as we keep away from-”

There was a smack on the window. Luxia went over to inspect, but found nothing. It wasn’t windy that day, so she dismissed it as children playing with rocks. 

Luxia was about to continue her thoughts when there was a crash heard coming from outside the office.

The three of them looked out to find the entrance wide open and papers, folders, and books on the floor. 

“Is the beast in here?” Lance asked, a shakiness to his voice. 

There was a sudden growl to be heard coming from the shadows. Allura stood in front of Lance and Luxia, hand around the handle of her axe. 

Out from the shadows was the werewolf Luxia had hired to get rid of Lance. Luxia hid her recognition of him as Allura pulled out her axe.

“I won’t let you hurt these innocent people! Leave now or be slain!”

The werewolf laughed. “You think you’re any match against me, human?” He bared his teeth.

Luxia knew just how strong he was. Even if this woodswoman was a strong warrior, she’d be no match for the monster.

The werewolf stood straight, his tail sweeping against the floor.

“I have a proposition. Sacrifice one of you to me and the other two shall be spared.” 

Allura took a step forward. Luxia had no idea what the werewolf was doing. They had a deal. And Luxia couldn’t bring herself to have a stranger be sacrificed for the werewolf’s incompetence.

Luxia grabbed Lance’s arm and pushed him forward.

“Take him, you mangy beast! He was the one you were supposed to get rid of anyway!”

Lance turned around.

“Wait. Luxia...is that true?”

“If you hadn’t come to the Blue Lion, none of us would be in danger!” Luxia glared at him. “The least you can do is take responsibility for having ever come here in the first place and trying to steal my position!”

There was a sudden pause. The werewolf, Allura and Lance all stared at her. She shifted her gaze between the three, unsure of what was going on.

Shiro stepped forward, putting a protective paw over Lance’s shoulder.

“So, you admit it then? You set this all up merely because Lance wanted to work here.”

Luxia gasped.

“N-no,” she took a step back. “You all tricked me!”

“And you tricked me!” Lance undid the red coat, throwing it to the floor. “I looked up to you, why would you be jealous of me?”

Luxia clenched a fist.

“You wouldn’t understand. You’re still so young and naive.” She stomped her foot. “I’ve done more for the Blue Lion than you ever would have done!” 

Shiro growled at her and Allura looked ready to attack should she lay a hand on Lance. Luxia was shaken up and looked away.

Lance shook his head. 

“I wanted to believe this was some misunderstanding,” he said.

“What are you going to do now?” she asked. “Do you intend to be rid of me?”

“No,” Allura spoke. “That would be unfitting of us.”

Shiro put another paw over Allura’s shoulder.

“But you will tell the truth to everyone at the Blue Lion. Your actions were truly despicable and you had no right to take out your anger on an innocent.”

Luxia gulped, fearful of Shiro.

“And what of you three? Lance will steal my position and you two will leave the village?”

Lance put a hand over Shiro’s paw.

“Actually, I was thinking I could take a bit of a break from the Blue Lion.”

“What?”

“I didn’t even know there was a village at the other side of the woods and it’s got me wondering if there are any more villages along its borders,” Lance smiled.

“You’re still on that foolish dream to see the world? How would you even find the other villages?”

“We’ll help him,” Allura answered.

“And we’ll discover them with him,” Shiro added, bringing the two closer to him. “But first you’re going to set things straight with your fellow employees and co-workers. Otherwise we’ll tell them ourselves.”

Luxia gritted her teeth.

“Oh, very well. Whatever it takes to get you three out of my sight.”

Luxia kept to her word and admitted to the delivery folk of the Blue Lion that she had tried to get rid of Lance this whole time. She was forced into early retirement as the Blue Lion had a reputation to keep up and didn’t want her to spoil their name any further than she had already done.

Lance was honest about wanting to see more of the borders along the forest. He had only ever known his small village and maybe a city or two further along the roads. As they prepared for their journey at Shiro’s cottage, Lance felt bold enough to ask them a serious question.

“So...are you two a couple?” 

Shiro and Allura looked at each other and gave a nod.

“Yes,” they admitted.

Lance sighed and nodded in understanding. “Got it.”

Shiro grabbed Lance’s hand, making Lance’s heart skip a beat.

“But we’ve been looking for one more person to make our hearts complete.”

Lance blinked. 

“Me? But you barely know me.”

“And we want to get to know you,” Allura said, leaning against Shiro. “If you’d be willing to let us.”

Lance felt he was about to cry. He rushed into their arms, and they returned the embrace. 

They explored different parts of the forest together and opened up new opportunities for those who wished to venture in and travel through to see other villages. Lance felt loved and wanted by Allura and Shiro, who showered him with affection and desire. 

He loved being called “little one” by Shiro and adored the way Allura gazed at him. They spent many nights cuddled together and their days laughing and conversing. 

Lance had fallen in love with them as they had with him and it came as a surprise to no one that the three of them would live happily ever after.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on my Tumblr and Twitter!
> 
> Tumblr: https://circustalia.tumblr.com/
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/CircusTalia


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